Hill Top Lodge Number 143, Knights Pythias
Files
Title
Hill Top Lodge Number 143, Knights Pythias
Subject
Strasburg (Va)
African Americans
Knights of Pythias
Description
This photograph shows members of the Knights Pythias Hill Top Lodge number 143 in Strasburg Virginia. It was taken by an unidentified photographer on April 11 1908.
Almost nothing is known about this organization except that it was one of the primary community organizations for African Americans in Strasburg. However, we do know that it was most likely a lodge in the “Pythia Supreme Jurisdiction North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.” This group had been formed in Richmond Virginia in 1869 after the Knights Pythias had refused to grant black lodges a charter in Virginia.
No evidence exists of where the Hill Top Lodge met and no hall is listed on period maps of Strasburg.
Almost nothing is known about this organization except that it was one of the primary community organizations for African Americans in Strasburg. However, we do know that it was most likely a lodge in the “Pythia Supreme Jurisdiction North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.” This group had been formed in Richmond Virginia in 1869 after the Knights Pythias had refused to grant black lodges a charter in Virginia.
No evidence exists of where the Hill Top Lodge met and no hall is listed on period maps of Strasburg.
Creator
Unknown
Source
Hill Top Lodge, Knights Pythias, Strasburg Virginia, April 11 1908, African American, Harold Gochenour Collection, Truban Archives, Shenandoah County Library, Edinburg, Virginia.
Publisher
Shenandoah County Library
Date
April 11 1908
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC)
Original Format
Photograph
Physical Dimensions
8x10"
Citationzork
Unknown, “Hill Top Lodge Number 143, Knights Pythias,” Shenandoah County Library Archives, accessed December 5, 2025, https://archives.countylib.org/items/show/11500.
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